What are the compounds and what do they mean?

For as long as cars have raced each other for grand prix wins, tyres have played a crucial role in securing victory. As the only contact points between the vehicle and the road, through which every piece of engineering wizardry must ultimately be channeled, that’s logical enough.

And although the technology has progressed in line with everything else in Formula 1, the fundamental challenge around tyres has remained virtually unchanged since the very first world…